


Morally Red

by Tinyflower_49



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Kidnapping, Minor Original Character(s), Qrow Branwen is Ruby Rose's Parent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25246303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinyflower_49/pseuds/Tinyflower_49
Summary: Ruby is taken from her family and raised as a servant of the Grimm Queen: Salem. Once Ruby reaches the age 17, Salem enacts a plan to destroy Beacon Academy: the home of her greatest enemy: Ozpin. But once Ruby begins her part in Salem's plan, she has to ask herself if she's willing to sacrifice the friends she's made for the sake of pleasing the Queen.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Qrow Branwen/Summer Rose
Comments: 36
Kudos: 93





	1. Introduction

Tyrian watched as a huntsman and huntress trained together in a small clearing near their home. From the trees, he could see their capes dancing around like leaves in the wind, and hear their weapons scraping together, sparks flying upon contact. Tyrian loved that sound; it made his heart dance with delight every time the metal clashed together. How he wished he could join their fight and take them both down with ease.  
  
But Tyrian was unfortunately assigned with another task, a task he was asked to keep... less bloody than usual. Why his queen asked him of all people to complete this mission was beyond him, but he could never let her down. Failing the Queen was the highest folly.  
  
He had decided to wait until dark to carry out his plan, especially since one of his targets wasn’t present at the moment. At least, that was true until the first huntsman was on his back, and another huntsman, this one blonde, came into the clearing with a young, excitable girl and a baby basket.  
  
Tyrian watched as the family gathered around each other, happily chatting and blissfully unaware of his presence. He watched longer, seeing the tiny blonde girl run in circles and jump around. Tyrian had to restrain his laughter when she tripped over a branch and fell flat on her face. The blonde huntsman, who he assumed was her father, scooped her up and took her back in the direction he came from.  
  
Tyrian waited a moment before jumping down and swinging his wrist blades at the remaining huntsman. He saw this as the perfect opportunity to strike, he knew that no matter when he took them on, there’d be a fight, so it might as well be here and now.  
  
The huntsman dodged his attack narrowly and drew his broadsword; the woman also drew her weapon. Chuckling, Tyrian launched at the two, swinging his arms and twisting away from their attacks. He launched himself upward and came down onto the man’s sword, kicking it to the ground and flipping backwards away from the two, “What do you want?” the huntress questioned him, pointing her weapon at his chest  
  
“Why, I simply wanted to congratulate you on the baby!” Tyrian responded, his arms out wide. “She’s rather beautiful, I hear she has her mother’s eyes.”  
  
Tyrian could see a flicker of panic in her eyes. Her extraordinary, silver eyes. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love to get a closer look,”  
  
“Like hell you are!” the huntsman came charging forward, swinging his sword at Tyrian.  
  
Tyrian laughed with joy as they continued to fight. The huntsman had taken his broadsword and turned it into a scythe, swinging it around with impressive precision. The silver eyed woman also swung her blades at him, even more skilled than her partner. Tyrian blocked nearly every attack, all while dishing out a few of his own.  
The three battling huntsmen grew tired, and their attacks became sloppy. Tyrian finally decided to bring out his semblance. Surely Her Majesty wouldn’t mind if he returned with only one living silver eyed warrior?  
  
Summoning his semblance, Tyrian channeled it into his weapons and made a mad dash for the woman. She managed to block the first strike, but faltered on his second, and her aura was torn away. Tyrian sliced down her front and quickly ducked away from her parnter’s attack.  
  
“SUMMER!”  
  
Tyrian chuckled and kicked the distracted huntsman into a tree, breaking his aura while doing so. Tyrian ran for the basket where the now crying silver eyed child laid. Scooping her up, he ran for the trees.  
  
Behind him he heard the woman cry out, “Qrow, get Ruby!”  
  
Tyrian sprinted away, trying his hardest to confuse the pursuing huntsman. Which was not an easy task with a crying child in his arms. He ran for what felt like hours, his legs were shaking and he was out of breath, the fight prior to his escape was not helping either. The little silver eyed bundle had worn herself out crying and was now asleep. Tyrian slowed his pace and came to a stop. He couldn’t hear any footsteps near him and assumed that the huntsman, Qrow, went back to his partner.  
  
Tyrian looked down at the girl, her face was scrunched up and her tiny fists were wiggling under her white and pink blanket. He wished he had brought Hazel with him, he was much better with kids, and could probably calm down the kid easier than he could, “Hey… hey… it’s okay, tiny silver eye…” Tyrian cooed. He clearly had no idea what he was doing, but he couldn’t let the kid start crying again.  
  
“Just shut up until the airship shows up, okay?” he shushed and awkwardly rocked her.  
  
Miraculously, it worked, and she wasn’t fussing anymore. Tyrian quietly thanked his goddess and looked around. He found himself under an overgrown tree, the sky had turned dark and the once green grass looked grey with the lack of sunlight. Tyrian took a breath and scanned once again for the huntsman, he didn’t remember exactly when he lost him, but the huntsman was nowhere to be seen. Tyrian flinched when he saw a shadow pass a few meters in front of him, but it appeared to be nothing but a bird flying by.  
Knowing now that he was safe, he took out his scroll and sent a message: ‘Got one, now come get us.’  
  
“Alright, Ruby,” Tyrian smirked down at the sleeping warrior, “Time to get you home.”


	2. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kind words and critique on the last chapter. I'd also like to thank a friend of mine who puts up with my constant questions and for helping me correct each chapter.

Ruby laid on her back, staring up at the canopy draped over her bed. The room was dark; the drapes on her windows blocked the light of the shattered moon from entering. Ruby never really could tell the time of day here. The sky was always crimson, reminding her of blood. Although, after living her whole life in this place, she could at least tell the difference between night and day.

Ruby found it oddly poetic. Salem, her master, was immortal, so Ruby figured that night and day wouldn’t matter to a divine being such as Salem herself. But even so, Ruby still needed to be able to tell what time it was, and the stupid sky always pissed her off.

Ruby laid there for hours. Or at least that’s what it felt like. 

But how could she sleep? In just two days she’d be on her way to Beacon Academy, the best huntsman school in all of Remnant. She wouldn’t be there as just a student, but a spy as well. Cinder had informed her of the plan, and that there would be a meeting later that next day.

Ruby rolled to the side of her bed and checked her scroll. 4:41 A.M. She huffed and set the scroll back down. There was no way she was going to sleep now that she only had a little under an hour. 

Ruby got up and dragged herself over to her closet. The hangers rattled as the cold air rushed in. Ruby ran her hand through the few shirts she owned and picked out a black v-neck, along with some torn, red jeans. She slipped out of her nightshirt and into her outfit of the day. It was definitely not as combat ready as what she would usually wear, but her intentions for the hour did not consist of combat, so she figured it was alright.

Ruby grabbed her scroll and slowly crept out of her room. She entered the dark, grand hallway. Down the hallway were three other bedrooms belonging to her friends Emerald and Cinder, and the third room was empty. Ruby never dared venture inside that empty room. She had been told that the spirit of a former member protected it, and if she entered, she’d be possessed and killed. Ruby was terrified by it until she turned 13, which was when she figured that it wasn’t true. But she was probably told so to make her stay out. And it did work.

Ruby decided to wander around until the rest of the castle woke at 5:30 A.M. Down the hall to her left was the staircase that led to the dungeon tower. She’d never known anyone to actually be taken up there, but it was a good backup. And to her right was another corridor that led either to the gathering hall, or the common area. Ruby decided to go right and down to the commons. As far as she knew, it had the best view of the Grimm pools. Watching the Grimm crawl out from those dark, abyssal pools was one of Ruby’s favorite things to do, next to fighting. She enjoyed guessing what variant would rise from the puddle, and always wondered what it would feel like to jump into one. Salem had warned her against such actions though.

She remembered when she turned 15, she was taken down to the pools of Grimm as a test for her strength and durability. Ever since she was five, Ruby would go through an excruciating test each year. Salem herself created and oversaw these tests to see where Ruby was in her training. And each year challenged her. Her test by the pools was the worst she’d ever faced. Salem had summoned a new type of Grimm every time she killed the last ones. She started with Creeps and went on and on until she was facing six Beringels at once. By that time she was already beaten up pretty bad, having bruises and cuts all over, her aura was gone, and Salem wasn’t letting up. Ruby knew it was for her own good that she was being tested this way, but she thought she was going to die. Hazel was kind enough to ask Salem to let her go and heal, but she already knew her injuries would scar.

One thing about that specific test though was the oddness of it. Other than it’s difficulty, Ruby had gotten the feeling that Salem wanted something more. That, no matter what Ruby did, she wasn’t pleasing Salem enough. But, if there was something else Salem wanted, she never let on.

Ruby sat on the floor by her favorite window in the commons and watched the Grimm. The floor was cold. The moonlight never provided much warmth when it shone through the purple tinted windows. 

The cold floor was one of her earliest memories. She remembered being told to sit and wait for Tyrian to return from his mission. But when he did, he didn’t look like himself. His clothes were torn and red with blood, which gushed from blisters and cuts all over his body. His hair was cut jagged and his broken bones could be seen as lumps under his skin. Little Ruby couldn’t help but scream when she saw him, which caused a now insane and broken Tyrian to turn toward her and start laughing maniacally, before he passed out and fell to the ground.

Ruby shook the image out of her mind and focused on the Grimm. She hated thinking about that day, everything had changed for her after Tyrian lost his mind. She swore she’d get revenge on whoever it was that made Tyrian the way he is now.

Ruby dozed a moment before she felt buzzing come from beneath her. Her usual 5:30 A.M. alarm had gone off. Ruby dismissed the alarm and stared off idly for a moment before she stood and walked back to her room. She had no desire to eat and thought that some training would be useful, one last chance to practice before she had to pack and set off for Vale.

She grabbed her combat gear and set off to the training hall. Once she arrived, she saw Emerald sitting cross legged on the ground facing away from her.

“Emerald?”

“Gah!” Emerald shouted, whipping around.

Ruby cringed. “Whoops, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Emerald, visibly annoyed, stood up. “Do you need something?”

Ruby looked over Emerald, she wasn’t wearing her combat gear, but instead had on a green training jacket and her usual white pants. “Oh, I was just going to train. I didn’t know anyone was up yet. What were you doing?”

Emerald looked over her shoulder while answering, “I was training my semblance. I figured I’d need it for the mission.’’

“Oh, okay. You’re probably right.” Ruby thought for a moment. “Hey, why don’t you help me train? You can conjure up some Grimm and I’ll fight them.”

“I could, but you can’t actually touch the illusions. Wouldn’t that throw you off?”

“I need to work a bit more on offense. You could make some targets that dodge my attacks,” Ruby offered.

Emerald considered her offer for a second before she nodded and went to stand by the door. Ruby prepared Pendulum, her sickles, for the first attack. She could almost feel Emerald connect to her mind as a shadowy figure appeared before her. “I’ve decided people figures would be better for offensive attacks,” Emerald called out to Ruby.

Ruby nodded and began her attack. She lunged forward and sliced at the figure with her left sickle. The figure quickly twisted out of the way; Ruby turned with the figure and sliced through its chest, causing it to disappear. She then felt another figure form behind her. Ruby twirled and swung downward at her new opponent, who easily evaded by leaping backwards. Ruby crouched and swung for the figure’s stomach, but it once again flipped backwards and out of the way of her blade. She took the opportunity of it being in the air to dive down and slice at its ankles, which caused it to disappear. 

Emerald and Ruby continued to train for another hour. After Emerald had given herself a headache and Ruby was out of breath, they decided to grab a late breakfast and begin their packing.


	3. The Plan

Ruby’s day had been filled with packing and encouraging pep talks, but mostly packing. Ruby, while she didn’t have much, felt like she was going away forever, and that made it hard to choose what to take. Eventually, she settled on taking all her clothes and any other necessities, which consisted mostly of four shirts, three pairs of pants, and some self-care items.

Ruby sat on the floor with her bag, her mind blank. She reached to her side and checked her scroll. A message was sent to her five minutes ago from Watts, ‘Meeting time. You best be on your way.’

'Ah crap!' Ruby thought and rushed out of her room. She reached the staircase which led straight to their meeting room and hopped onto the railing. She knew for a fact that sliding down the railing saved her exactly two-minutes-and-twenty-six-seconds. Reaching the bottom, she slipped off and ran to the door. Taking a split second to compose herself she opened the door. 

To her relief, Salem had not yet arrived. Ruby sighed and walked over to her seat, as she sat she heard Watts say, “You’re lucky, I remember the first time I was late. I still have the scar too.”

Ruby scoffed at him, “I’m sure you deserved it.”

Watts sat back and glared at her for a moment, “I arrived only a moment after she had.”

Ruby’s cocky smirk faded at his reply, she hoped he had just caught her on a bad day, but she figured that was unlikely. Ruby looked around the room for the others, Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury were there, chatting amongst themselves. But Tyrian and Hazel were nowhere to be found. Ruby found it odd and turned to Cinder, “Where’s Tyrian and Hazel?”

Cinder turned to face her with her eyebrows raised, “They don’t have a part in this plan, they don’t need to be here.”

“Oh,” Ruby muttered. 

Ruby had only ever attended these kinds of meetings as an infant, when someone had to keep a constant eye on her. Naturally, she didn’t remember any of it, but once she could look after herself she was left out of every meeting. After all, if she wasn’t useful to any part of a plan, she was not important.

The grand doors opened from the outside, and everyone in the room rose from their seat. Salem strode over to her own seat at the head of the table, looking ahead and not at anyone else. She paused a moment before she turned to face the table.

“Ruby.” Ruby winced as she heard Salem call her name.

Ruby gulped and responded, “Yes ma’am?”

“Please explain why you were late.” There was no malice or darkness in Salem’s voice, just coldness and apathy.

Ruby’s breath caught in her throat, ‘how did she know?’ she looked Salem in the eye. emotionless, dark eyes stared back at her. “Right, I was packing my things and… and I got distracted and didn’t hear my scroll go off. I’m sorry, ma’am.” 

Salem continued to stare blankly at her for a moment, before she turned her head down the table and responded, “You are forgiven, Ruby,”

Ruby heaved a relieved sigh, she thought she could hear Watts grunt from next to her, which angered her. 

“Now,” Salem began.“As we all know, Beacon Academy’s first semester is about to commence, and this is the prime opportunity for us to strike.” Salem paused and turned her attention to Cinder, “Cinder, you will meet with the leader of the Vale branch of the White Fang and convince him to provide aid with our attack. After you have him, seek out the Fall Maiden and take her power. I will equip you with the tool to do this in the morning. Take Mercury and Emerald as back-up. Our Mistral informant has provided us with three files for you to use to get into Beacon once you’ve finished your first tasks. See to it that you arrive at Beacon with the Mistral students.”

Cinder smiled faintly and nodded. “Of course.” Emerald and Mercury, who stood next to her seat, also nodded.

Salem then gave her attention to Watts. “Watts, am I correct in assuming you have the equipment prepared for Ruby to hack into the communication system and files on each tournament contestant?” 

Watts cleared his throat and sat up, “Yes, ma’am. Once I give her the new scroll she will have all of the necessary materials for her time at Beacon, and as long as Ruby can get into the tower, there should be no problem with hacking comms and by extension, Ironwood’s own files.”

“Good.” Salem then focused on Ruby. “Ruby, you will enter Beacon Academy as a student. You will join a team and get as close as possible to Ozpin. Learn as much as you can and report your findings to Cinder, who will report back to me. You are to not use your new or old scroll to contact any of our allies during your time at Beacon for the off chance of scroll inspections.”

“Of course,” Ruby replied.

Salem looked around the table at each face before asking, “Any questions?”

The room stayed silent for a moment, Ruby felt the air in her lungs get heavier the longer the silence remained. “Yes, um,” Ruby began hesitantly, “will I have a code name or different identity?” 

Watts piped up, “the name ‘Ruby’ is so incredibly common, we felt that there was no way you could stand out, especially when you’ve never left on a mission before.”

Ruby thought for a moment before saying, “Okay… but what about a last name?”

“You’ve been admitted under the name ‘Ruby Corvo’. A combination of common names we’ve found that shouldn't cause any unwanted attention,” Watts explained.

Ruby nodded, repeating the name again and again in her mind. She had always given herself the last name Callows or Rainart, although she never had a reason to use them. She considered Tyrian and Hazel father figures, since they were the main two who raised her. Cinder also helped teach her basic skills, but she considered her to be more of a sister. 

Ruby found herself lost in thought when she noticed a cold hand on her shoulder. She tensed and looked up, already knowing that it was Salem standing behind her. 

“You’ll do well, Ruby.” Salem then addressed everyone in the room, “You all will succeed in our plan.”

Salem’s encouraging words were matched with a smile. Not a smile of joy, but of malice. She wanted Ozpin to fall, and everything he created to go with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	4. Leaving Home

The morning came too soon for Ruby. The airship arrived in front of the main door of the castle early in the morning. Emerald had woken her up after her scroll failed to go off, so Ruby hadn’t gotten a good start to her day. After grabbing her bag and dressing in her favorite combat gear, she looked back at her room. She had made the bed, opened the drapes, closed the closet door and shut every drawer. Ruby was never a tidy person, but she wanted to come back to a welcoming, clean room. 

She turned and rested her hand on the doorknob. Something about leaving just felt so wrong. She’d lived here ever since Tyrian found her in Grimm infested woods when she wasn’t even a year old. Now she was leaving for the first time, and for a long time. Unable to help herself, Ruby turned back around and rushed to her chest drawer. Inside was her oldest possession, her white and pink knitted baby blanket. While she wouldn’t ever admit it to anyone, she found the softness of the old blanket comforting. It made Ruby wonder why someone would go to such lengths to make a beautiful blanket for their baby, only to then drop her in the woods for a Grimm to snack on.

Ruby then exited her room. Watching as she slowly shut the door with a click. Ruby remained staring at the ornate, carved door for a moment, before she heard a gruff “Ahem” come from behind her. At once, Ruby whipped around, on edge.

Tyrian was there, leaning on the wall that connected to Cinder’s room. Ruby gasped and dropped her guard as she spoke, “Oh. Tyrian! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

Tyrian chuckled to himself before answering,”It is alright, little flower. You must be nervous about leaving for the first time, I’m sure.”

“Kinda, I just-” Ruby paused and looked at Tyrian, his arms were crossed in front of him and his scorpion tail swung slowly. “I just don’t know what to expect. I mean, I’ve seen Vale in books and videos, but never with my own two eyes. And on top of that, I’ll have to join a team of people I’ve never met! It’s all just so… so…”

Tyrian pushed himself off the wall and placed a hand on Ruby’s shoulder, causing her to flinch. While having him to talk to was comforting, his unpredictable nature still frightened her, “It’s all very frightening. Leaving for the first time, meeting new people, finally seeing the world.” He gave her a sympathetic look that bordered on a mocking frown. “But I know that you’ll do well in assisting our goddess.”

Ruby nodded at his remark. He was right, she had to do this for Salem. She didn’t know what failing Salem would cost her, but there was no way she was going to find out. “Why don’t I walk you down to the gate? Cinder and the kids are already on the airship.” 

“Oh, okay,” Ruby replied. 

The two walked down to the main door to find it open. Emerald waited just outside the entrance for Ruby. “There you are!” Emerald exclaimed.

Ruby shrugged and muttered, “I got caught up talking to Tyrian,” 

She gestured to Tyrian, who dramatically bowed his head. “I am so terribly sorry! I do hope that your mission does not fail because I wished to speak with our young Ruby before she left her home for her first time!”

Ruby squirmed at his remark. She shrunk a little and looked over at Emerald’s puzzled face. “Uh, it’s fine…” Emerald assured. “Come on, Ruby, we have to get going.”

Ruby walked forward and onto the ship. The rubber soles of her boots skimmed the floor of the ship as she dragged herself on. She waved one last time to Tyrian as he backed away from the ship and returned to the castle. Ruby found a spot near the back of the cargo hold and planted herself on top of a large crate. The ship was clearly not meant to carry passengers, but Ruby figured a proper transport ship would cause too much attention. Emerald found her own crate to sit on while Mercury and Cinder stood by the door. Once they were settled, the ship took off. The softness of take-off surprised Ruby as the ship rose into the air and darted away from the gate. Ruby looked out one of the tiny windows and back at the castle. 

She watched as the gate got smaller and smaller. Ruby felt the urge to cry, but forced the lump in her throat down. If Mercury saw her cry, she’d never live it down. Mercury enjoyed taunting her if she ever struggled to complete any task, but she knew it was from a good place; he said they were friends after all, and friends taunted each other all the time. 

Eventually, Ruby had laid her head down on the large crate and fell asleep. The stress of the morning finally caught up to her, and drained her of any semblance of energy she had just withered away. But what felt like hours of sleep turned out to be only a few minutes when she heard Emerald call her name, “Hey, Ruby, I figured you’d want to see this.”

Emerald gestured out the window with her head. Ruby sat up and walked over to the window while stretching. Outside the window, Ruby could see the still crimson sky and red sand. She watched as the crimson slowly faded to purple and the red sand began to mix with dusty brown. The sky eased from the crimson she had always known, to a beautiful, early morning green. The blood red stone and sand had been replaced with cool greys and browns. Ruby looked high into the sky and saw the blue that would eventually fall over the world like a dome, and she could see the yellows of the sun that was beginning to rise. And farther along she saw the most brilliant green that rested over the coming forest like a blanket.

Ruby stared in awe as the world changed before her. She’s never known such cool colors could be so inviting. She wished she could leap out the window and feel the air, or touch each leaf on every tree. Ruby hadn’t known how beautiful the world was, the pictures in her books did it no justice.

“If you think that’s pretty,” Cinder interjected, “just wait until we pass over the coast.”

“Pftt, the coast?” Mercury scoffed, “It’s just wet sand.”

“Uh huh, and where do you think is the best view?” Emerald commented.

Mercury pursed his lips and scratched his chin, “Well, if you ask me, and you did, you can’t really enjoy the view until you get down there and see it for yourself.”

“What’s it like?” Ruby’s question seemed to surprise them, as if they forgot she was there.

Cinder approached Ruby slowly, her heels clicking across the metal floor. Ruby panicked, she wondered if she said something wrong or offended Cinder somehow. Cinder put a gentle hand up to Ruby’s cheek, thinking she was going to hit her, Ruby felt the urge to flinch away, but refused to move. To her surprise though, Cinder remained calm and said, “You’ll see it all soon, Ruby.”


	5. Exploring and Boarding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who forgot it was Monday? Sorry it's a bit later than usual. This chapter isn't my favorite by any means, but it is a bit longer than usual, so hopefully that will make up for it. Enjoy!

The ship arrived in Vale six hours later; Ruby had been looking out the window for the whole trip. She was amazed by the beautiful coastlines, the vast mountain ranges, and the endless forests they had passed over. She never imagined she’d get to see such gorgeous views in all her life.

The airship had landed in the forest just outside the city in a clearing. Ruby, Emerald, Mercury, and Cinder had taken their things and left the ship. While walking through the forest, Cinder stopped and dug out a map. “Ruby, this is a map of Vale. We’re in this forest right now, but if you keep walking the way we have been, you should find the city in about five minutes.”

Ruby’s heart skipped. “You’re leaving?”

Cinder nodded. “We have to first meet up with the leader of the White Fang, who is hiding out just east of here.”

“But where do I go once I’m in the city?”

Cinder sighed looked down at the map which Ruby now held. Pointing, she said, “You’re right here, walk north until you see the city.” She moved her finger across the map. “Once you’ve made it in, walk toward the river and look for a transport which should be near…” She traced along the blue line that marked the river. “Here. The airship leaves for Beacon at 1 p.m. Do not miss it.”

Ruby traced Cinder’s route with her own finger. “I got it,” she replied with forced confidence.

Cinder lifted her finger from the map and picked up her bag. Without a word she turned and began her own route east. Emerald and Mercury followed after her. “Good luck, Ruby!” Emerald called.

“Yeah, don’t screw this up for us!” Mercury also called.

Ruby watched them go, Mercury’s words dancing around her head like bees in a hive. Once they were out of her vision, she looked down at the map once again and started to make her way towards the city.

It didn’t take long for the silhouette of the buildings to come into view. Barely a minute later, she could make out the city and its towering buildings.Tall, brown and grey brick buildings greeted Ruby as she stepped through the alley and onto the main street. Each building was at least four stories, and decorated with simple white trim. Ruby had read all about Vale, how it was divided into four districts and how it was bordered by protective mountains to keep the Grimm out. 

To her, Vale seemed like the perfect city. But Salem wanted it to be razed to ground. And so it would be.

Ruby unfolded her map and looked at where she was. It looked like she was just on the edge of the agricultural district, and the river wasn’t too far away. 

She folded her map back up and looked at her scroll: 11:30 a.m. She had plenty of time to make it to the transport ship. 

She closed her scroll and began her walk, admiring the architecture and peeking in the windows of a few interesting shops. Before long, she was at the edge of the river. There were benches looking out across the water and trees planted in the ground, evenly spaced apart from each other.

Ruby looked down the river in the direction Cinder pointed and saw the transport. Two large platform docks stood on each side of a huge airship, which hovered just above the water. Ruby could see many colorful characters walking up the platform stairs and into the ship. She slid her folded map into the side pocket of her bag and rushed down the river. The ship only grew in size as she approached, and her wonder replaced any anxiety she had in that moment. Everything was just so big, her books didn’t cover half of it.

Ruby reached the platform and climbed the stairs. Her footfalls grew heavier the closer she got to the top, her anxiety fighting her astonishment and winning. The joyful chatter around her turned muffled as Ruby began to panic. What if she failed? What would Salem do to her if she did? What would happen to Tyrian if she wasn’t there? What if-

“ID please.”

Ruby stopped dead. She hadn’t realized a woman with a clipboard now stood in front of her. “Oh, um… what?”

“ID please,” she repeated. “You need it to board.”

Ruby fumbled to open her scroll, and looked for the file. She had given her scroll to Watts the other day so that he could put everything she needed onto it. She scrolled a while before finding a file named ‘Beacon Admission’.

‘Thank you, Watts,’ she thought to herself before selecting the ID and showing the lady.

“Corvo… Corvo… Yep, right here. You’re all set to board, miss Ruby, please set your luggage on the ramp just inside the ship.”

Ruby nodded and walked the rest of the way to the ship. The platform was crowded and far more charming from a distance, but Ruby managed to enter the airship. In front of her was a ramp and bronze colored doors on her left and right. She took off her bag and set it on ramp before being directed to turn right and enter the airship proper.

Inside she was greeted by large, bronze framed windows, cyan painted walls, and ornate bronze supports that connected to the walls and ceiling. There was a lack of seating, which Ruby didn’t mind. 

She found a spot next to a window and sat on the floor. It wasn’t nearly as cold as the castle flooring. This floor was hard, albeit warm. Ruby looked out the window and watched more kids board. Eventually, everyone was boarded, and an announcement came over the speakers. “Good evening, new and old beacon students. Before we take off I would like to address that we will be making two more stops before heading to Beacon. Our first will be to the other side of town to pick up those students, and the last will be to the port on Patch to get the remaining kids. Thank you, for your cooperation.”

And with that, Ruby felt the airship rise and begin its journey. Most of the kids in the room were chatting with friends, or making new ones. Ruby watched them interact, not entirely sure why they were acting so… sycophantic. They were friends right? Why weren’t they throwing insults back and forth? She didn’t think everyone was as soft as Emerald. But then again, she remembered being told that everyone on the outside was soft. She shrugged and looked out the window. She watched as the building got shorter, and thought over Salem’s plan.


	6. Unexpected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See the end notes for a bonus scene, and enjoy!

“Hello and welcome to Beacon.”

A voice from just above Ruby had startled her to her feet. She looked behind her and saw the hologram of a blonde woman in a white, black, and purple outfit. “My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsmen and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it.”

Ruby couldn’t help but scoff at the line about peace. _‘You wish, lady.’_

The hologram continued, “You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world.”

Ruby looked out the window and grinned at the cheesiness of that Goodwitch lady’s speech. These so-called ‘future protectors of the world’ had no idea they were just being used by Ozpin to destroy Salem’s creations. The thought of Ozpin turned Ruby’s knowing grin into a scowl. He’d pay for what he did to Salem. Whatever that was.

She turned her attention back outside and saw the ship was now over a large lake that looked to have sunk into the ground. Cliffs jutted from the shore of the lake, and up ahead of the ship was the gargantuan school: Beacon Academy. The sight actually took Ruby by surprise, It was massive. From the distance, it just appeared to be a shadow, but when the ship got closer, Ruby could make out more details. The arches that created a semi circle around the main courtyard, the windows by the main entrance that happened to resemble the purple tinted windows in Salem’s Domain, and, of course, the monstrous Cross Continental Transmit Tower in the center of the school. 

Ruby clung to the wall as the airship made an abrupt turn to dock in front of the school. For some reason, she felt queasy on this ship. The seven hours on the cargo ship was fine, but just two on this ship had her fighting the urge to vomit. But she didn’t. She held it down and cursed the pilot, as they must’ve been the reason for her sickness.

The airship’s automatic doors opened to the outside and everyone rushed out. Ruby followed behind the crowd to avoid getting smothered. 

Once outside, Ruby saw the beautiful Beacon courtyard. It looked only more magnificent up close, and much larger, which Ruby didn’t think was possible. The tall spires toward the back faded into darkness the higher they went up into the sky.

The excited students rushed forward to grab their bags and explore, Ruby followed their example and did the same. She took her back off the rack and made her way to the front of the school. Not entirely sure what to do, Ruby looked around, ‘Maybe we have to go to our dorms?’ Ruby thought.

“Wait, do we have dorms?”

“Heh, nope! Not yet at least.” Ruby hadn’t noticed she’d asked that outloud, and she definitely didn’t notice the large, blonde girl standing behind her.

“Sorry, did I spook ya?” The blonde girl asked her. Ruby scanned the girl, she wore a yellow and black bomber jacket, a white tube top, black shorts, and thick metal toed boots; it wasn’t exactly combat gear, she looked more like a party girl.

“Uh, no, you didn’t,” Ruby responded.

The blonde girl stared down at her with an awkward, toothy grin. “You’ll go to the auditorium. Oz will give his speech and you’ll be corralled into the ballroom to sleep before initiation tomorrow.”

Ruby was confused, this girl couldn’t have been more than a student, so why was she acting like a teacher? “Where did you figure that out?”

Her grin came back and she chuckled, “I’m a third year, silly. I’ve been through all this before, and my team took an extra credit assignment to greet the freshmen.”

“Oh, right.” Ruby felt dumb, of course other students would be here, what’s wrong with her?

Ruby looked down at her bag, trying to avoid contact with the blonde’s violet eyes, who was still just standing in front of her, smiling. She didn’t know what was wrong with the girl, but before she could tell her to go away, another girl from across the courtyard called out, “Yang! Quit harassing the freshmen and help me with the bags!”

Ruby looked over to see a white-haired girl looking over at them with her pale hands cupped around her mouth, likely meaning that this blonde girl was Yang. “I’m not harassing anyone!” Yang turned to Ruby. “I’ll take your bag for you, just head for the main doors and follow the crowd to the auditorium.”

She leaned down and hoisted Ruby’s bag onto her shoulder with ease. Ruby took off to the main doors without a word. She heard Yang call out behind her, “You’re welcome!”

Ruby scoffed, _‘Weren’t you doing it for extra credit? Why should I thank you for getting extra credit for yourself?’_

She walked warily toward the school’s entrance. Her eyes hung heavy and her mind couldn’t leave her first interaction with that girl. Yang. Not even a day in and she has already embarrassed herself. And Yang’s violet eyes couldn’t leave her mind, despite the cold color, they were warm, welcoming, and full of life; not worn or tired like Tyrian’s occasionally purple eyes. And certainly not as threatening.

Ruby inhaled deep and found herself in the doorway of the auditorium. A large crowd stood in crooked rows in front of a modest sized stage. Ruby exhaled and went toward the middle of the crowd. The Yang girl said Ozpin would be giving a speech, and she saw this as a perfect opportunity to get a good first look at him. 

She always had a very clear image of him in her mind; dark hair, tall, burly, and impressive. He probably wore robes and maybe even a sort of crown, just to show off his power. Ruby hated him, her picture of him paired with a cocky smirk was enough to anger her into killing Grimm, just to calm her down.

A smaller cluster of students stood near the middle of the crowd, and Ruby decided it best to stand in the space next to them. Ruby couldn’t have cared less about what they were talking about, but eventually a taller, tan girl with greyish-brown hair stepped back from the group and right onto Ruby’s foot. “Watch it!” Ruby shouted at the girl, backing up.

The girl looked at Ruby with a mix of shock and offense. “Woah, sorry. Calm down.”

She then turned back to her now quiet friends with a semi-quiet, “Jeez…”

Ruby heard her and barked, “Excu-” but was cut off by a ringing microphone and dimming lights.

She turned her head to the stage, the girl’s offense nearly forgotten. Ruby knew this was it, she was finally going to see Ozpin. But who stood on the stage was not a great, sovereign man. Instead, an average sized man stood behind the microphone, wearing a very simple black suit and green scarf. His hair was dull and grey, but his face was young, no matter how tired he appeared.

“You have traveled here today in the hopes of becoming a huntsman or huntress, protector of our world. Your motives may vary from your peers, and your goals could reflect any future choices you make, but know this; your time at this school will prove challenging, you might find yourself stuck at some points or fighting just to get through. Just know, how you make it to the end of your education is entirely up to you. You may find friends, make enemies, lose family, but you must press on. And always, keep moving forward.”

Ruby couldn’t help but be impressed by his speech. She was confused, to say the least. She was always told that Ozpin was a powerful, selfish man willing to do anything to take Salem down. But his appearance and speech didn’t reflect any of those traits, he seemed calm, down-to-earth, and even… kind. That didn’t matter though, no matter how kind he appeared, she knew who he really was. What kind of monster he really was.

He scanned the crowd as he continued, “Tonight you will gather in the ballroom to rest, then in the morning you will…”

Ozpin froze. His expression shifted slowly from calm and cheerful to shock, even some horror. And what was worse, he was staring right at Ruby.

Ruby could feel her knees go weak, and her body turn cold with sudden sweat. He was looking right at her, not past her or in her general direction, dead into her eyes. There was no way he had recognized her, she never left Salem’s castle until now. Why did he look so terrified when staring at her?

The crowd started to mutter, but Ozpin cleared his throat into the microphone and shakily continued, “Excuse me,” never taking his eyes off Ruby.

He stared a moment more, before walking away off the stage. Ruby could feel eyes on her, she tried her best to keep still and calm, but she was thoroughly terrified. If Ozpin somehow knew who Ruby was, and stopped her and everyone involved with the plan, who knew what Salem would do to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ozpin sat in his office, listening to the tick of the gears. He rested his hands over his mouth and intertwined his fingers. He stared forward at nothing, lost in thought. He had seen many different kinds of students before, kids from all over Remnant. But he never expected to see the long lost daughter of his closest ally, standing right before him in his own school. And yet there she was, staring back at him. Alive. After so many years, she was still alive. Ruby was alive.
> 
> Ozpin released a breath, spinning around in his chair to stare blindly out of the window. 
> 
> When she had been taken by that psychotic man years earlier, he, and everyone else, assumed she had been killed. But, Ruby was here now. In Beacon. But the implications of her return were far from ideal. _Her_ mark was all over Ruby.
> 
> He’d have to keep an eye on her from a distance. If he was right, if Salem was behind her kidnapping and return, then there was a risk. But Summer would want her daughter to be okay. And he’d have to wait to tell Qrow that Ruby was here. Ozpin needed to know why Ruby was here before he told Qrow or anyone who she really was.


	7. Tellers and Tales

A cool breeze blew across Beacon Cliff. Ruby stood on a stone platform, same as every other student. Ozpin was also present on the cliff, along with the woman Ruby saw on the ship as a hologram. Ozpin attempted to act like nothing was wrong, but Ruby could see past his facade. She had been on edge ever since their little moment in the auditorium. Ozpin seemed to only share in her unease every time he glanced at Ruby, or slightly in her direction. Which wasn’t often, as it seemed he was trying to not look at her.

Ruby tried to focus on the forest ahead of her; the vast forest was like a sea of sparkling emeralds dancing with the wind. It was no wonder they called it The Emerald Forest. But even with its beauty, it couldn’t stop Ruby from worrying about Ozpin. 

Ozpin cleared his throat and began his speech: “For years, you have trained to become warriors. Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest.”

He stopped and turned towards Glynda. “Now, I’m sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates today.”

 _‘Oh right’_ Ruby had completely forgotten about the teams. Ozpin continued, “These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years.”

Ruby heard chattering next to her as Ozpin took a break. She could see Ozpin looking over everyone with a mischievous grin, but it only lasted until he got to Ruby’s side of the line.

“After you’ve partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way, do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die.”

Ruby scoffed, something she felt like she’d been doing a lot lately. Ruby had read about Vale’s Grimm, and they didn’t get any worse than an Ursa or Deathstalker. Which she had slain dozens of times with ease.

“You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. Our instructor will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, guard that relic, and return to the top of the cliff. You will then be graded appropriately.”

“Any questions?” Ozpin waited barely five seconds before continuing, “Good. Now, take your positions.”

Ruby remembered that the girl, Yang, had snuck into the locker room that morning and told everyone to have a landing strategy prepared. She had explained that a friend of hers didn’t know what a landing strategy was when they went through initiation, and wanted to, _‘spare everyone the embarrassment.’_

Ruby bent her knees and put her left foot forward, along with raising one arm in front of her and making a fist. She could hear the other students being launched off their own pads and into the air. She tried to focus on the kids flying into the air instead of Ozpin, but no matter what she did it still hung heavy in her mind. Part of her was just waiting to hear Ozpin say, _“Not you Ruby, stay here.”_ right before he attacked her and explained that he somehow knew Salem sent her.

But it never came, and Ruby was launched into the air with everyone else.

With the wind blowing through her hair and the weightless feeling of flying, Ruby’s trouble had faded for just a moment. Her semblance sometimes allowed her to get off the ground, but didn’t compare. 

Ruby let herself fall for a moment before she took out her dual sickles and fired a few blanks at the ground to slow her descent. She flipped backwards and held her blades out to catch a tree branch, which she then used to swing around a few times before falling the rest of the way to the ground.

Now on the ground, Ruby scanned her surroundings. The thick canopy of leaves above her blocked most light from reaching the forest floor. A few spots of light danced over the grass which had been flattened by years of initiation and training. The ground was quiet except for an occasional crow caw, or a kid still flying over the forest. Ruby took the silence to think about her next move; Ozpin had said to make her way to the temple after pairing up, but what was stopping her from just going to the temple alone? If she made it there and back without passing anyone, then she couldn’t be blamed for not getting a partner.

Ruby nodded to herself and began walking North. She listened for any movement in the brush or above her in the trees. But it was surprisingly quiet. At least until a Beowolf went flying past her and vaporizing upon contact with a tree. A rush of brown and orange followed after the Beowolf and Ruby immediately ducked behind a tree.

She listened as the student fought against another Grimm. They battled for a while before Ruby could hear the Grimm fade to dust, and the kid out of breath on the other side of the tree. Ruby waited for a minute for the student to catch their breath then leave, but, unfortunately for her, the student spoke up, “I know you’re there. Stop hiding, I still need a teammate!”

Ruby cringed, even with her speed she couldn’t escape a partner. She stood and stepped out from behind the tree. Ruby was met by a tall girl with dark skin and eyes that were amber like a sunset. She looked almost familiar to Ruby, and she could tell this girl felt the same.

“I stepped on your foot.” The girl’s comment took Ruby by surprise. 

“Erm.. what?” Ruby responded dumbly.

“I stepped on your foot in the auditorium, remember? You practically growled at me.”

Ruby remembered. “Right, I remember.”

They stood for a silent, awkward moment. The girl then piped up, “So uh, what’s my new partner’s name?”

“Who- right, I’m Ruby,” Ruby stuttered.

The girl nodded and held out a gloved hand. “I’m Brenna. Nice to meet ya, Ruby.”

Ruby looked down at her hand. She wasn’t sure what to do with it. But before she could react, a pack of Ursas tumbled out of the brambles and charged at the pair.

Ruby grinned, finally a chance to do what she's best at. She took out her sickles and prepared to dash into combat. “Cool blades,” Brenna commented beside her.

Ruby summoned her semblance and rushed toward the pack in a flurry of rose petals. Darting past the leading Ursa and hooking her blade around its neck, she decapitated the beast with ease. She then landed on the other side of the pack, which had stopped moving in confusion. The Ursas began charging at Ruby, but with a loud bang, and a puff of amber smoke, another Ursa was vaporized.

Ruby looked past the pack at Brenna, who had a small cannon strapped to her arm. Ruby knew that she’d have to check it out later, but the pack split and a few charged at Ruby. She slid under one of the bears and stuck her sickles in its back. She fired a few shots into it and vaulted off its back with her feet, landing to see it already faded away.

Two more remained. Ruby kicked the smaller one into a tree and focused on the larger. I swung down at Ruby, who rolled to the side and flung one of her blades into the beast’s chest. She ran for the Ursa, grabbing her sickle and sprinting up the beasts arm with the help of her semblance. She fired shots down at it which launched her into the air. She then used the momentum of her fall to drag her weapons through the shoulders of the Ursa and down to its feet. It turned to dust and blew away.

She had forgotten about the last Ursa, and barely managed to block it’s attack as it smacked her into a tree.

 _‘Payback, I suppose.’_ Ruby thought. She could feel her aura deplete with that attack, and decided that this last kill should be more efficient. Ruby waited for the Ursa to charge at her again, she flipped her sickle upside down and flung her arm upward at the monster, tearing right through its chest and killing it soon after.

Ruby breathed and looked over to Brenna, who was just finishing up her last Ursa with a powerful punch to the stomach. The bear was sent flying, but didn’t get the chance to land before it faded to thin air.

Brenna fell to the ground. Ruby could feel a bruise forming on her back as she walked over to where her new partner sat. Brenna looked up at Ruby, “Nice work, you alright?”

Ruby nodded. “You can stand, right? We need to get to the temple.”

Brenna sighed and looked down at her legs. “Yeah I’m fine.” She stood slowly. “Let's get moving.”

…

The two walked for what must have been an hour before they came across a clearing and some old ruins. Brenna gasped, “This has got to be it!”

The pair rushed forward toward the temple, a ring of stone pedestals stood within the circular ruins. On the pedestals were various story books. “Books? Jeez, old Oz must be running out of ideas,” Brenna commented.

Ruby looked back at her, “What do you mean?”

Brenna scratched her head and replied, “Yang said that Oz used chess pieces for her initiation, and the year before that had cards.”

Ruby raised an eyebrow. “You know Yang?”

Brenna chuckled, “Ruby, everyone knows Yang.”

Ruby shrugged, implying Brenna was right. Ruby looked over the book titles, _The Shallow Sea, The Four Maidens,_ and _The Girl In The Tower_ were some of the many stories present. Most of the pedestals didn’t have books. “I guess we’re not the first ones here.”

Brenna looked over in Ruby’s direction. “Well, not everyone had to fight a pack of a dozen Ursas.”

Ruby rolled her eyes, it wasn’t nearly a dozen. More, like, eight or nine. Ruby looked down and reached for a book she hadn’t seen before, _Mirrored Eyes_. It had a picture of a woman on the cover, she was mostly a silhouette with a white eye and a circle of white behind her which Ruby assumed was the full moon. 

Brenna had called to Ruby before she could pick it up, “Let's take _The Shallow Sea_! My little brother loves this book.”

Ruby walked over to Brenna, who held the book out for her to take, “You should hold onto it, I don’t have big enough pockets.”

Ruby took the book and slid it into one of her coat pockets. “Is that it then?”

Brenna shrugged, “I guess so, now we just have get back to the cliff an-”

The sudden sound of trees crashing against the ground and the howls of a pack of beowolves had interrupted Brenna. Two girls came running out of the brush followed by at least 20 Beowolves of every size. Brenna yelled, “Nila?” and ran toward the pair, Ruby assumed she must’ve known one of them, and followed after her.

The four of them met up in the middle. One of the girls, who Ruby had assumed was Nila, jumped on Brenna for a hug. With the Grimm pack not far behind them, Nila said, “We were helping another group fight a Deathstalker when these showed up. Help us out, Brenna!”

“Right. You two go grab your relic, Ruby and I will keep these beasts busy until you can join us,” Brenna commanded.

The two new girls nodded. Nila brushed her pale, orange hair out of her face and gestured for the other to follow her. Ruby and Brenna ran for the pack, weapons out.

Ruby flew toward the left side of the group using her semblance while Brenna shot her cannon behind her and dashed to the right. Ruby dove down and cut the legs off the first Beowolf she came in contact with. Spinning out of the way of one of the beast’s attacks, she launched off the ground and kicked one of the Grimm in the jaw, then took her sickle and stabbed it through the chin.

She took a few more shots at the Beowolves surrounding her, but was stopped by Nila’s partner running into the circle while she hooked her weapon onto a Beowolf and flung it at another, killing both of them.

The girl slid to Ruby’s side and said, “We got our relic, Nila went to help Brenna.”

Ruby looked at the girl, she had jet black hair and scales covering her exposed arms. She held a grappling gun which resembled the head of a snake. As much as Ruby wanted to look over her weapon, the Grimm had begun attacking them again.

Ruby ducked under one of the Grimm’s arms and sliced it off. Another Grimm lunged at Ruby in an attempt to bite her, but she dodged and cut it’s head clean off. No matter how many Grimm Ruby killed, it seemed like more just kept coming. 

“We need to get out of here! They keep calling backup!” The snake girl had called to the group.

“You’re right, but how? They're everywhere!” Ruby heard Nila’s high pitched voice from somewhere on the battlefield. 

“I have an idea!” Brenna shouted, “Does anyone have a semblance-” Brenna paused to fight off a Beowolf. “-a semblance that can get me into the air quickly?”

Ruby thought for a moment before she begrudgingly yelled back, “I can do it!”

“Good. You two, try and lead the pack away from the temple!”

Snake girl huffed, “Oh great, the easy part!” in a sarcastic tone.

“Let’s go!”

Ruby summoned every drop of aura she had left and sped toward Brenna. She flew between the raging Grimm and reached out to grab Brenna. Together they flew to the top of the temple to wait for the pack to get away.

“You do have a plan right?” Ruby huffed, out of breath, “I’m low on aura, so if this plan doesn’t work you’re screwed.”

“Oh, I’m screwed?” Brenna repeated.

“I’m not risking my life for your sake. If this doesn’t work and I run out of aura, I’m not sticking around.”

Brenna gave Ruby a look she didn’t quite recognize. Was it sadness? Annoyance? She wasn’t sure, but it made Ruby angry. _‘You should be glad that not all of us will die’_ she thought.

Nila and her partner led the pack back toward the trees. Brenna looked to Ruby and nodded, implying that she was ready.

Ruby took hold of Brenna and flew into the air. She’d only ever flown with her semblance a few times before, and never straight up. But Ruby focused hard and let Brenna go about 8 meters from the ground.

Brenna loaded a round of ammo into her cannon and fired six rapid shots down toward the pack. Amber smoke mixed with black and their view of the pack was cut off completely.

Ruby began to fall to the ground. She fired a few blanks from her shotgun sickles and landed hard on the ground, her aura completely gone. Her visibility was still close to nothing but the silence proved that Brenna’s plan had worked.

Nila cheered as the smoke cleared and her partner walked up behind Ruby, “Well done,” she praised. “Your name is Ruby right? I’m Vasuki, but Nila has taken to calling me ‘Vee’.”

Ruby nodded, “That’s right.”

Ruby stood next to Vasuki and watched Brenna chat with Nila. “We should probably get back to the cliff,” Ruby suggested.

Brenna glanced over, “You’re right,” she replied. “Let's get our relics to safety,” she added with a smirk.

…

“Brenna Ryder, Nila Taylor, Ruby Corvo, and Vasuki Stone..”

Ruby walked onto the stage in line with her new teammates, careful not to look directly at Ozpin, who stood in front of them. “The four of you retrieved the book, The Shallow Sea. From this day forward you will work together as, team RRVN (Raven).” Ozpin paused a moment, as if he was considering something, “Lead by, Brenna Ryder.”

“Haha! I knew it!” Nila cheered as she threw herself onto Brenna for a hug, something Ruby was already finding obnoxious.

The crowd clapped and team RRVN turned to leave the stage. Ruby could feel Ozpin’s eyes burning into the back of her neck. She felt the urge to turn around, but resisted. 

And in her head, Ruby smirked. She was really in. And the end of Beacon Academy had begun.


	8. Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another big thanks to my friend for helping a lot with this chapter, this past week has been insane for me. But I hope you all enjoy! (Update at the bottom)

It had been a week since initiation. Ruby along with the rest of team RRVN had settled into their new schedule well. Or, as well as she could. Ruby couldn’t stand being around her team. They were so happy and chittery, and it annoyed Ruby to the core of her soul.

Brenna, at least, was a good leader. They already had one training session against another team, and they won with ease thanks to her quick thinking. Although they still would’ve won if she just let Ruby take on the other team herself, the whole teamwork thing didn’t suit her well. Whenever Brenna would discuss their future team missions, Ruby found her mind wandering to, anything else she could think of, which was usually weapons. 

Ruby loved looking at the weapon catalogs Tyrian used to bring back from his missions for her. She had studied all kinds of weapons. Atleasean weapons were one of her favorites; along with Vale’s. And if nothing else, her teammates had amazing weapons.

Brenna’s weapon was a grenade launcher that she strapped to her arm and used to also throw heavier punches. She only used it for finishing off or distracting enemies. She preferred hand to hand combat, and held onto a bladed tonfa while she fought.

Nila had a spear that fanned out into a claw shape like a rake. It was also a sniper rifle, which she admitted to barely ever using. She had said that even from a distance, she couldn’t stop herself from rushing at the Grimm with Owl Claw, her spear, at the ready.

Vee’s weapon was mainly a gun. But it also had a grappling hook type blade connected to a chain on top that she would use to throw around her opponents. It had incredibly detailed etchings of snakes on both sides of the gun and was easily the best looking weapon of the three.

Unfortunately for Ruby, her love of weapons was the only thing she had in common with her partners. And she couldn’t talk about it in every conversation they had. So she often took to going on walks around the school, and this was one of those times.

Ruby walked around the courtyard and the gardens for hours, alone with her thoughts and emotions. She didn’t have classes that day and there was no way she would lock herself up with her team. She checked her scroll a few times for any coded messages from Cinder, Emerald, or Mercury, but none ever came. She had to assume they were still going after the Fall Maiden.

Ruby only knew about maidens from what Cinder had told her. That they were young women who inherited great powers unlike that of a semblance. Cinder’s life goal was to take all the power of the maidens and become the most powerful maiden to have ever lived. A pretty underwhelming goal in Ruby’s mind, it seemed like every fantasy story she’d read had a villain that only desired power. That villain was always defeated, and it made Ruby somewhat worried for Cinder.

She wasn’t a villain, of course. Cinder helped raise Ruby, how could someone like that be a villain? Ruby cursed herself for comparing Cinder to a fairy tale villain, and sat on a nearby bench. 

The morning breeze was cool, lulling her thoughts into silence. Blankly, Ruby watched the courtyard. Slowly, as time passed, students and staff started wandering around it, going on with whatever they needed to do. 

Or wanted to do, as she had started to learn. Much to Ruby’s surprise, a lot of people did what they wanted instead of what was needed of them. Ruby had learned a long time ago that doing whatever you wanted was dangerous and resulted in disastrous consequences. The last time Ruby ever did what she wanted was when she had accidentally pissed off a Nuckelavee Grimm wandering through the area. She barely managed to survive. 

Once she had killed it though, she saw that Salem had been watching the whole thing. And then warned Ruby that if she ever put her own desires before Salem’s, then she would not be so generous the next time.

Those words echoed in Ruby’s head every time she had a thought about what she personally wanted to do. And how foolish it was to act on her own selfish desires.

Ruby huffed, leaning back on the bench. Her face was angled up to the sky. It was so...blue. It still caught her by surprise by how much color there was in the world beyond Salem’s domain.

“Hey.”

Ruby yelped, bolting into the sky with her semblance for a second. When she landed right behind the bench, she saw Brenna standing before her. Arms crossed and a shocked grin on her face. Her eyes were alight with what Ruby presumed was amusement. But not like any type of amusement she had ever seen. They weren’t like Tyrian’s eyes when he was amused.

“Uh, hi.” 

“I’ll be honest, Ruby, I did not expect you to jump that high. Actually, I wasn’t even expecting you to literally jump,” she laughed.

“Yeah,” Ruby said, not sure how to respond. “Did you need something?” The only logical thing that made sense was that she needed Ruby to do something for her, right?

“Not really,” she shrugged. “I just wanted to talk.”

“Talk?” Ruby repeated, taken off guard.

“Yes. Talk. It’s a thing that people do, y’know.”

“Of course I know that!” Ruby snapped.

Brenna rolled her eyes before she plopped into the bench. She patted the spot next to her. “Sit.”

While on guard, Ruby did as she said. “What did you want to talk about?” Ruby asked, eager to get this over with.

“Hmm...I dunno.” 

“You don’t...know?”

“I just wanted to get to know you better, can you blame me!?” Brenna cried. And yet her voice was still relaxed. “You just wander around the school all day and do your best to hide from us, your teammates.” 

“That’s not-” Ruby began.

“Don’t bother pretending you aren’t,” Brenna interrupted, waving Ruby’s protests aside. “I’m not mad, per se, I’m just confused. And concerned.”

“Concerned?” Ruby repeated. She didn’t know what to say anymore. She was completely baffled by this girl.

“Yes! As I said, you do your best to hide from us. I assume it’s something to do with where you came from, and it concerns me. Are you okay?”

Ruby blinked, at a loss. This girl was asking about how she was. About how she was feeling. It made no sense. Why would she care?

Brenna stared a Ruby for a bit before snorting. “What, are you confused? I want to know more about you and how you’re feeling.”

“Oh, right!” Ruby realized. “You’re concerned because it looks like I’m the weak link of the team. You’re trying to get me to work with the team better so we’ll be unstoppable.” 

Brenna burst out laughing immediately. Her entire body shook as she doubled over in her laughter.

“What? What’s wrong?” Ruby asked, once taken off guard. This didn’t sound like Tyrian’s maniacal laughs. It sounded...happy?

“You have got to be the densest girl on Remnant, I swear.” Brenna got a few more chuckles out before she turned to Ruby again. “No, you idiot, I want to know how you’re doing. This isn’t about how we are as a team, it’s about you. I’m being nice.”

“Wait, I’m confused-” 

“I’m asking how you are feeling,” Brenna repeated, enunciating each syllable.

“I’m confused.”

“Well, I get that.”

“Then what do you want?”

Brenna now groaned. “Okay, simple questions; what was your life like before coming here? You can hardly hold a conversation with anyone, actually, you can’t hold a conversation at all. With fighting, you’re amazing, albeit incredibly aggressive. But a child could beat your social skills.”

Ruby hesitated before replying. When she did, she spoke slowly and dodged the question. “I didn’t grow up in a place like this. It was difficult. You needed to be strong. It was kill or be killed.”

Brenna had suddenly become very serious and alert. “So why come to Beacon?”

“To help.” It was the truth, just not the truth that Brenna was thinking.

“Well then, Rubes, we have work to do. Once we’re done, you are going to be the queen of social interactions.”

“Don’t call me that,” Ruby replied. “And what does that even mean?”

Brenna smirked, nudging Ruby’s arm. “Come on. You should at the very least start with getting to know your teammates. And once we’re done, we will bring down all of those walls, m’kay?”

“Right.”

Brenna’s smirk turned into a beaming smile. She grabbed Ruby’s hand and started leading her back towards their dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little taste of Ruby's scattered thoughts and some social interactions. Next chapter will be an eventful one, although... I'm taking an extra week to write the next few chapters. Big stuff is coming and I want to make sure it's as good as I can make it. ;)  
> UPDATE: It looks like I'm going to be taking yet another week to work on the upcoming chapters. I'm so sorry for the delay, and I really hope they'll be worth the wait.


	9. Shadows from the Sky

In the clearing, Ruby sat with her team and listened to her professor, Glynda Goodwitch, give her lecture. The day was cool, a clear sign of autumn's arrival. Glynda had decided to give her lecture outside to enjoy the weather; so she led them out on their mini field-trip and sat them down in the Emerald Forest.

It was one of the rare days Glynda decided to teach instead of monitor their sparring; Ruby hated these days. All she ever discussed was different fighting tactics and the Grimm’s weak points, all of which Ruby was too familiar with. So instead of paying attention, Ruby watched the sky. 

She watched the clouds change forms and tried to relate the shape to something she knew of, something Nila had told her to do when she was stressed. Ruby remembered when Nila had taken her outside one day and told her to lay on the grass. She laid next to her and they watched the clouds pass by. Nila had asked her what she saw, and after some confusion, Ruby realized she wanted her to say what the clouds looked like to her. It took Ruby a long time to come up with anything besides, “A blob,” and her most creative shape ended up being “the head of a Beowolf.”

There were hardly enough clouds to make shapes out of, so Ruby’s mind wandered to the events of the past two weeks. Her team had helped to loosen her up a bit, and help her fit in with the rest of the school. Ruby had really appreciated their help, and found it much easier to hold conversations with the other students in the school. It was easier to blend in now, she told herself. Exactly what Salem needed from her..

Ruby’s thoughts were interrupted, however, by a black shape soaring high above her. Ruby watched the crow fly above the forest and back toward the school, and she smiled. Ruby loved corvids, crow and ravens specifically. Their unmatched intelligence and brazen attitudes had drawn her in ever since she was young. She turned her head to the side to watch it fly beyond the trees and toward the school, it must've been looking for it's family or friends. 

“Ruby…”

Ruby looked away from the sky and toward the voice. Glynda was tapping her foot on the grass and giving Ruby a stern stare, “I do hope you are paying attention.”

Ruby cleared her throat and responded, “Yes ma’am.” in a quiet tone. Next to her, Vee and Brenna snickered at Ruby. Three weeks ago, Ruby might’ve snarled at them for their insolence. But instead, she playfully smirked back at them.

_Two Days Ago…_

Qrow sat alone at the bar of an old inn on the outskirts of Vale. He had just completed a tedious mission out in the uncharted forests of Vale, and now, he rested. He debated on whether he should head directly to Ozpin for a new mission, or pay a visit to Tai in Patch. School had just started back up, and Tai would be alone now that Yang was back in Beacon. 

Not that Tai would want to see him. Ever since Summer di- … _Disappeared_ , Tai had been much more cautious with Qrow’s visits. He didn’t try to show it, but Qrow knew that Tai blamed him for the loss of his family. He knew Tai didn’t want to think about it that way, that he knew Qrow wasn’t truly the one to blame. But he couldn’t help it, and Qrow couldn’t blame him.

Qrow sighed and took an old picture from his inside pocket. He gazed at the photo longingly, looking at the faded faces and surroundings, he wished he could live that day over and over again.

_“Qrow, let's go have a picnic. Just the three of us!”_

_“Right now, Sum? I think Ruby wants a nap.”_

_“Nonsense! The weather is too beautiful to be taking naps! Grab her blanket and I’ll make us some food!”_

_“Of course. Whatever you want, Summer.”_

A lump formed in Qrow’s throat as he thought back to that day, it was one of his fondest memories with his family. And not a day went by that he didn’t think of them, how much he loved them, and loves them still.

Suddenly feeling ill, Qrow pushed his drink to the side and sauntered up the crooked stairs. He fumbled for the key in his pocket and unlocked the door. 

There was nothing special about this room; just a desk, bed, nightstand, and a potentially moth-infested closet. So, Qrow trudged over to the bed and checked his scroll, which had buzzed not long before he entered his room.

The notification showed to be from Ozpin, ‘Oh, wonderful,’ Qrow thought and opened the message. 

_“New mission, report to Beacon as soon as possible.”_

Qrow nodded to himself. Short and straight-to-the-point messages were Oz’s usual style. Qrow nearly put his scroll on the chipped bedside table, when another message caught his eye.

_“… Qrow, It may be best to prepare yourself for this next mission.”_

He lowered his hand and furrowed his brow. Ozpin had never told him to, “prepare himself” for a mission, the expectation was to always be prepared.

Qrow fell back and looked up at the ceiling. He wondered about the contents of the mission, perhaps a young maiden had passed. No, that had happened before. And as terrible as it was, all of Ozpin’s team was constantly prepared for news such as that.

Qrow sighed in frustration and laid down to sleep. He’d find out soon enough what Ozpin meant.

_…_

“Oz?”

Qrow arrived at the top of Beacon’s CCT tower where Ozpin made his office. Qrow stepped out of the elevator as it’s familiar tune sounded and walked cautiously toward Ozpin, who sat behind his desk, facing the window.

“I got your message…” Qrow tried, but got no response from behind the chair.

“Oz, your message wasn’t exactly clear. What am I supposed to prepare for?.”

Oz stood before Qrow had finished. He gazed out the window a moment longer and turned to walk a few steps toward Qrow. And that was when Qrow saw his eyes, they were glazed with tears.

Qrow’s heart skipped. Ozpin was not an emotional person, by any means. To see him with even the faintest of glaze over his aged eyes was incredible, and terrifying.

“Oz-”

“Qrow…” Ozpin interrupted him. A faint smile formed on his face as he spoke slowly, “She’s here…”

Qrow froze a moment, hope fluttered in his heart for the first time in years. He hated to hope, and a scowl crossed his face, “Oz, you know how many ‘shes’ there are that are missing? Quit trying to be so damn cryptic and tell me who you found.”

Ozpin nodded and turned to his desk. Opening his scroll, he placed it on the desk and turned on his holographic monitor. What was on the screen made Qrow sink to the ground.

On the screen was a student I.D photo. The student had long, jet black hair and silver eyes that shone like familiar stars. Her fair skin was grazed with scars and she wore a hostile look. Qrow knew exactly who it was in that photo, but he couldn’t believe it. He wanted to scream, kick, and cry out. It had to be a sick joke, a dream he would soon wake from perhaps.

Ozpin turned the monitor off, causing Qrow to reach out, like she was just there. He put his hands to his head and looked down to the floor. Teardrops fell fast from his cheeks and landed on the cold floor.

All this time… All this time she was alive… and he didn’t save her. He thought of all the things he had missed; her first steps, her first words, all of it. How could he have just given up like he did? Those years he could’ve spent searching, washed away with alcohol and self pity.

“Qrow… I understand you need time to process, but there are some things you must know.”

Qrow looked up slowly at Ozpin, who had his own tear running slowly down one side of his face. He smiled kindly and softly at Qrow, clearly trying to be as gentle as possible. “Qrow, I…”

Ozpin paused as Qrow rose to his feet, tears still falling. He hated to cry, whether it be in front of people or on his own, it made him feel weak.

Ozpin cleared his throat and spoke slowly, “She arrived here under the name ‘Ruby Corvo’. I... noticed her at the opening speech, but I didn’t want to inform you of her presence until I could learn more about her. She showed aggressive behavior and terrible social skills during initiation. And what’s worse, we believe that…”

Qrow knew what was coming next, and he dared Ozpin not to say it.

“That she may have been taken by and raised by Salem.”

Qrow’s breath fell short and heavy, and his mind spun. How could he let this happen? How could he let her be taken? Qrow cursed himself in every way he knew, he had let his own daughter fall victim to Salem, there was no way he would ever forgive himself, not that he could have ever forgiven himself before knowing what he did now.

Qrow hunched over the glass desk and held himself up with his shaking arms. He breathed quickly and went over everything he could’ve done to protect her. Nothing was right, he now knew where his long missing daughter was, where she had been, it should’ve been one of the happiest days of his life. And yet, all he could think about was everything terrible to do with it.

He gritted his teeth and glared at Ozpin, “You kept this from me… for three weeks..?”

He tried his hardest to be angry with Ozpin, gods knew he was, but only his heartbreak came through when he spoke. “Qrow, with the way she was acting the first week, it would've been twice as hard for you to meet her.”

Ozpin’s words echoed in his mind, “Meet her? Woah, Oz… I can’t just-”

The familiar tone of the elevator echoed throughout the room like a thousand bells, and he froze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh it's finally here! This chapter (and the next) was a long time in the making, more than just the two extra weeks I took. I've had the image for this scene in my mind for years, and I really hope I did it justice. I really really hope you enjoyed it!


	10. Silver Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAHH hi everyone... I'm not dead, nor have I abandoned this fic! I never will I love it too much. Just a few things before you read this chapter. First off, my updating schedule will be all over the place for the next... many months. I plan to upload AT LEAST once a month, maybe more if I get lucky. I work on this fic with a friend of mine, and our schedules don't match up well. I'm so sorry about the change, but I promise I'm working hard to improve my writing skills to bring you the best chapters I can! Secondly, I know this is lame of me to ask, but if you do really enjoy this story, please support it. I post when I update on Tumblr and the official RWBY Amino, both under the name Tinyflower_49, I also occasionally post art to go along with the chapter. If you could head over to one of those sites and give it a like or repost, it would honestly make me so happy. (Preferably Tumblr, I only post to amino because it's easier to have people see the chapter updates... sorry Amino followers.) I know it's lame to ask and you hear it all the time, but I would really appreciate it. And finally... THANKS FOR 1000 HITS!!!! I know its not huge for AO3 standards, but when I saw it, it made my week, it's a lot too me. Thank you thank you THANK YOU!! I tried to get this chapter out yesterday for our sweet Ruby's birthday, but I ended up on the roof all day. So thank you so so much, happy birthday Ruby, and enjoy the chapter!!!!!

Team RRVN was on their way to dinner when Glynda had stopped them, “I’m sorry, girls, but Miss Corvo is needed in Professor Ozpin’s office.”

Ruby stopped cold. She hadn’t seen Ozpin since the first day of school. Brenna leaned over to Ruby and whispered, “What did you do?”

“Nothing!” Ruby defended a little too quickly.

Her team gave her very saddening looks that Ruby wasn’t quite able to recognize. Glynda did not come to her defense, which made Ruby think the worst.

Ruby inhaled deep and turned to her team. “Go ahead, I’ll, uh… catch up, I guess.”

They hesitantly nodded at her and continued walking. Ruby watched them go and turned back to Glynda. She raised her eyebrows slightly and nodded to Ruby as if silently asking if she was ready to go. Ruby nodded back, although she was not truly ready to face Ozpin, no matter the context of the situation.

Ruby hadn’t thought about Ozpin much since she joined her team, something she cursed herself for doing. One of the main reasons- no, the main reason she had been sent to Beacon was to get close to Ozpin, and she had completely forgotten to do so. Her teammates and their stupid get-to-know-you games was the reason for her forgetting; it wasn’t her own fault of course. 

But now that she was being forced to meet Ozpin…

Did he know? Was he about to confront her? Attack her? Salem had made it very clear to Ruby awhile ago that she wouldn’t be a match against Ozpin. If that was true or not, Ruby didn’t know. It could’ve just been Salem wanting to kill Ozpin herself. But if it was true, then what was Ozpin capable of?

“We’re here.”

Ruby hadn’t noticed their arrival at the CCT tower, right in front of the elevator that led straight up to Ozpin’s office. Ruby unknowingly started to breathe heavy, the terror and unknowing of what waited for her on the top floor was weighing her down. Her heart pounded in her chest. She did not want to get on the elevator. Every muscle in her body wanted to turn and run. But she was frozen.

“Are you alright?” The gentle voice came from beside her. Glynda had gently rested her hand on Ruby’s exposed shoulder.

Her calm nature angered Ruby, who was thoroughly convinced she was about to be interrogated. She couldn’t take the kindness in her voice when it was most likely fake. “Fine.” Ruby grunted, just barely keeping her composure. 

She took the minimum steps required to walk onto the floor of the metal death box, and Glynda followed. The doors shut tight and Glynda pressed the button for the room at the top of the tower. After a ding, the elevator shuddered and began to climb. 

The anxiety returned to Ruby’s stomach, twisting and buzzing around like she had eaten a nest of bees. It was the same feeling she got on the airship coming to Beacon, she had blamed it on the pilot’s bad control of the ship, but now she knew better.

Glynda turned to Ruby. “I’ll be leaving you once we make it to the top.”

Ruby furrowed her eyebrows. “Then why come all the way up with me?”

Glynda turned back to stare at the door. She didn’t bother to respond for a moment, as if she didn’t know what to say. “To make sure you’re okay,” she said at last.

Ruby was taken aback by her kind response. It seemed like Glynda meant it, and Ruby had no idea why. She knew that she wasn’t the nicest student in Beacon, far from it actually, and she didn’t see any reason in changing her attitude. She was just being herself after all. But most of the teachers were still kind and forgiving toward her, despite not being this way with other students.

The tone of the elevator signaled their arrival at the top. Ruby took in a large breath and exhaled slowly, trying to appear calm. The doors slid open to their respective sides and revealed Ozpin’s office.

It was not quite what Ruby expected. It was a large circular room with many windows donning the walls. His glass desk appeared to be made up of spare gears and parts from some machine, and it sat in front of the glass clock that could be seen from the outside of the tower. Above them were huge gears that slowly turned and ticked every second. Other than that, the room was empty. Ruby wondered what he used all the extra space for, perhaps to spar with colleagues or review students’ abilities? 

By the desk stood two men, one who was clearly Ozpin, and one Ruby didn’t recognize. He was tall, thin, had black hair that was greying around the roots, and wore a torn, faded, red cape on his back that barely reached his thighs. Ozpin turned his attention to the elevator door, and gave the pair a friendly smile. The man did not move.

“Oh dear, are we too early? I apologize, professor Oz-”

“No no, Glynda, you arrived at just the right time,” Ozpin assured Glynda, then turned to Ruby. “Hello!”

His voice was chipper, although quiet. Ruby wasn’t sure how to respond. She was prepared for him to leap from behind his desk and charge, but he did no such thing.

“Uh.. hi..” Glynda walked past her and handed a small slip of paper to Ozpin as Ruby spoke. Glynda then turned on her heel and strutted back to the elevator. Ruby watched Glynda leave, giving her a small smile as the doors shut. 

Ruby turned back to Ozpin. They shared an awkward moment of silence before Ozpin spoke up unexpectedly, “Come and sit.”

Ruby was startled by his sudden statement and reached for her weapon, but attempted to casually slip her hand in her pocket when she realized she left them in her locker. She cringed at how obvious she had been, but Ozpin still smiled on and gestured to the seat across from his own. Ruby looked to her sides for a brief moment of offense before she stepped slowly up to the chair.

She sat cautiously at the desk and watched the other man walk over to the column by the exit. Ruby huffed and looked back to Ozpin, who was watching the man as well, only with a look of pity on his face.

“Ruby Corvo,” Ozpin began, his hands rested atop each other on his cane. But then he was silent, as if analysing her. “You have silver eyes,” he noted. “Quite the rare trait.”

“Um, what?” Ruby blinked, taken off guard. Of everything to say, mentioning her eye color wasn’t even on the list.

“You arrived at this school several weeks ago and have proven yourself to be quite the talented fighter,” Ozpin said, instantly changing the subject. “From initiation to now, you’ve ranked among our top students in sparring. Yet your social skills are still sorely lacking, despite your team’s aid.”

Ruby groaned quietly, was she really just here for a lecture on friendship? She’s had enough of those already. “I wasn’t aware that a school designed to train kids to fight monsters required people skills.”

Ozpin smirked. “Well, miss Corvo, there will be plenty of situations where you will be required to speak with people as a huntress. It’s not all just fighting and killing Grimm.”

“I’m sorry, professor,” Ruby cut in, “but have you called me up here just to tell me I’m terrible with social situations? My teammates have already made me very aware of that, and I’m trying my best to improve, but I didn’t think it was so bad to call the attention of the Headmaster.”

Ozpin chuckled, amused for some reason that Ruby couldn’t grasp. Then his face grew dark. “No, that is not why I called you here.”

Ruby swallowed and began to panic, wishing desperately that she had Pendulum with her. “Then…” she couldn’t manage to finish her thought.

“Ruby, I called you here because…” Ozpin paused and a wave of worry flooded over Ruby, “you’re special.”

The worry quickly washed away, and was immediately replaced with confusion, although she couldn't help but chuckle a bit. “W-what?.”

“Understandably so, Ruby. You have a gift; silver eyes are not only a rare trait, but give you the ability to do incredible things.” Ozpin’s face softened, but Ruby still doubted every word. “As we have observed, silver eyed people have the ability to vaporize entire herds of Grimm with a single, focused, look. Although, we still don’t know where these powers come from, or why they exist. Silver eyed warriors are the best of the best, and they are the deadliest people in this world to Grimm.”

Ruby expected him to go on, but he only stared expectantly at her. “Uh… so uhm… what?”

Ruby couldn’t grasp the conversation she just had. There was no way he was telling the truth. Was he trying to make her look like a fool? “You’re joking, right?” Ruby gaped in disbelief.

Ozpin frowned, “Do I look like I’m joking?” He made a face similar to one Ruby saw all too often in Salem. Disappointment in her. It made her flinch, reminding her suddenly of her mission.

She looked back at Ozpin, and quickly thought of a reply he would like, “No. So, these silver eyed powers have like… an extra semblance?”

To Ruby’s relief, he smiled at her sudden interest. “It would be best to compare it to magic.”

His tone made Ruby believe he was trying to impress her, but she knew all too well that magic did in fact exist. Cinder’s constant fawning over the maiden powers had made it impossible to not know of them, but she realized that she wasn’t supposed to know that, however, and replied, “Magic doesn’t exist, professor.”

Ozpin smirked and looked down at the table, Ruby followed his gaze but only saw the glass. “If that’s what you think.”

“I’m sure you’ve been wondering why exactly you’re here. I’ve already told you about the power of the silver eyes, but now we must decide what to do about it.”

Ruby nodded, she still didn’t exactly want to believe him. But if he was right, then some things started to make sense. If Salem also knew about these powers, then all the years of assessments and Salem pushing her to near death, it must’ve been her trying to release the power. All those expectant glances while she trained and the constant feeling of letting Salem down would end. And Salem could finally be proud of her.

“I’m sure you have also been wondering about our extra guest here.” Ozpin pointed out.

Ruby had completely forgotten about the extra person in the room, she turned around to look at him. He hadn’t moved from the post by the elevator, his head still pointed down, and arms still crossed. 

“Would you like to introduce yourself?”

Ruby turned back to see Ozpin looking hopefully at the man, but no reply came. Ozpin sighed and continued, “This is Qrow Branwen, one of my most trusted allies. He has experience with the silver eyes and I’ve asked him to help you with yours.”

At last, the man, Qrow, looked at Ruby. His eyes were tired, wrinkled and a little puffy. One thing put Ruby off: “Your eyes are red though.”

“My wife had silver eyes.”

“Then why isn’t she teaching me?” Ruby asked impulsively.

Qrow waited a moment before replying, making Ruby think she had done something wrong. “She’s dead.”

“Oh…” Ruby felt awkward, what was she supposed to say? “I, uh.. I’m sorry.” 

She wasn’t certain why she was apologizing, it wasn’t her fault she was dead, but there was still a twinge of regret deep inside of her. 

Ozpin cut in as an attempt to change the topic, “I made the mistake of informing her of her powers too late. I intend not to make that same mistake with you, or any other silver eyed students I may have in the future.”

Ruby nodded in understanding. “So, was she the first silver eye you had met?”

“No. But she was the first student of mine to have silver eyes. I had kept a close eye on her team, and may have accidentally shown a little too much favoritism.” Ozpin chuckled.

“I see.” Ruby replied. She was starting to wonder about this other warrior, someone like her, someone she could’ve related to. It was truly unfortunate that she died, Ruby thought, and an innocent curiosity overcame her for a moment. Dropping her guard to know more about someone who was like her, “What was she like?”

“She was a great student, kind, sociable, top of her class. But perhaps Mr. Branwen can give more insight into her personality, they were on the same team, after all.”

Ruby was disappointed. She had hoped that her struggles with other people could be related to the silver eyes, but knowing now that this other silver eyed warrior was kind and sociable, she had nothing to blame that part of her on.

“Wait, you said that silver eyes were deadliest to Grimm, but do they work against other creatures? Animals or… even people?

“No, they have only been observed to activate in the presence of Grimm.”

Ruby was unsure now of what these powers could do for Salem. The Grimm were her creation after all, and a power that only harmed that creation was no use to Salem. 

“Take the day to get your mind in order, you must be rather overwhelmed. You will have your first session with Qrow after class tomorrow.”

Ruby looked Ozpin in the eye and nodded, “Will do, sir.”

“You’re dismissed.” Ozpin waved her off.

She stood and started toward the exit, glancing to Qrow before she left. He looked back at her with an expressionless face.

“Oh, and, Ruby?” Ozpin commented from the glass desk, “Don’t tell your friends about this just yet.”

Ruby hesitated a moment, although unsure why, “Okay.”

She pressed the elevator button and stepped on, looking one last time at Ozpin, who was still smiling softly at her, before the doors shut with a ding.

~

“What the hell was that for?”

Qrow turned angrily to Ozpin, hands in a fist a speech shaky, “You had just said that you understood I needed time. I thought that I’d get more than a few minutes! And you didn’t even bother to ask me if I was willing to train her, why would you even tell her about the silver eyes if you think she is working with Salem!”

“Do you want to train her?” Ozpin asked calmly.

“Of course!” Qrow responded with little thought. He was frustrated beyond belief.

Ozpin heaved a sigh and began, “I knew you’d wait to meet her, and it may have been too late by then. As for informing her about the eyes, that power can do no good for Salem, it only works against the Grimm. What I said was true, I don’t want to make the same mistakes I did with Summer…”

Qrow understood his reasons, although he wasn’t happy about not being able to make the decision for himself. He did want to spend time with Ruby, get to know her and learn about her life, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready. The past 16 years he thought that she was dead, and now in just one afternoon he learns that she had not only been alive, but working with the enemy.

“I am sorry to put this on you so soon, but we need to know why she’s here, and what Salem is planning. If I may be so bold to ask, would you be willing to not only train her, but try to get intel on Salem?” Ozpin questioned as gently as possible.

Qrow thought about his request for a while, before he nodded a slow reply to Ozpin. It felt wrong, he felt like he was only here to get close to her then spill her information to Ozpin. But at the same time, he really just wanted to spend time with his daughter.

Ozpin stood and walked over to Qrow, making a point to look him in the eyes, “I did not call you here for you to interrogate your own child, I truly hope that this will give you the opportunity to finally connect with her.”

Qrow understood, looking away from Oz. He was, at the very least, excited for tomorrow. A feeling he hadn’t felt in 16 years.


	11. An Unknown Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **STOP!!!!!!** Before you read this chapter, here's a warning. The first part of the chapter talks about losing a child and kidnapping. If that is something you're sensitive to, I encourage you to not read it. In fact, it's something this story will be talking about quite a lot from now on. I know my writing skills aren't great, but I still don't want to cause anyone distress over my silly little story.

“Qrow, get Ruby!”

That was the last thing Summer remembered saying before she passed out. Qrow had taken off after the man. Summer wished desperately that she could’ve gone with him; helped in any way. But she instead laid cold and helpless on the damp grass.

When she woke in her bed, wrapped in bandages covered in dried blood, that was all that was on her mind. But that was benign compared to the hollowness in her chest. 

She scanned the room. It was dark. Rain pattered against the window. Occasional lightning would light up the room, and when it did, Summer searched for any sign of life. Maybe she had been out for a few days; maybe Qrow was already lying next to her, and Ruby was safe in her crib. But she saw no one. Only the empty room where she once felt safest.

Summer wasn’t sure how much time had passed before she decided she had to go look for Ruby herself. After all, she’d worked with worse wounds than her current state. And goddammit, that was her daughter out there. 

Thunder cracked the sky and Summer moved slowly to life herself off the bed. Moments after a few involuntary grunts, she was alerted by someone in the doorway. 

“Summer?” A tall, blonde man stood in the door. “Summer!” He rushed over and knelt at her bedside.

“Tai? Where’s Qrow?”

Tai looked down, clearly unsure of how to respond. “He’s, uh… he’s still out looking… he came back briefly to make sure I’d gotten you out of the clearing, but…”

Summer’s heart lurched. Ruby still wasn’t found. She quickly swung her legs over the side of the bed, refusing to acknowledge the searing pain from her movement. “Summer, wait! Your wounds are-”

He couldn’t finish before she crashed to the ground. The pain may have been a mere afterthought, but her body couldn’t do what she needed it to. Slowly, she felt something wet and warm spread all over her chest; alongside it was a searing pain, indicating that she reopened her wounds. But she still was determined to get up. She pushed off the wood floor, yet still couldn’t get anywhere. Her arms shook violently. She fell again, defeated. Unable to help, unable to even stand, she did the one thing she could do; she cried.

She sobbed, and she screamed, and she felt so, so helpless. Her sweet baby was taken from right under her nose. How could she be such a failure? She let this happen. Right in her own home nonetheless. She was supposed to protect her child. And yet somehow she couldn’t even manage to do that. And she judged Raven for being a bad mother...

Tai lifted her up and hugged her tight. He cried for her sorrow, and his own. They mourned together on the cold floor. Long through the storm and into the morning.

~

After fixing her bandages, Tai helped Summer to the couch in the living room. Together they stared out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Qrow. The rain pounded against the windows and blocked any hope of spotting them, but Summer still tried. 

It was well past 5 a.m. Neither of them had slept since Summer woke up. It must’ve been hours. She refused to let herself be tired; Qrow was out in the pouring rain looking for their daughter. If Summer couldn’t help, then she’d at least stay awake until he came home.

She adjusted herself to face the window better, wincing at the pain. She could feel her aura slowly working to heal her wound; the feeling of the subtle tingle and beat of her heart on the edges of the gash. Pain was common for Summer, being a huntress. She’d been torn apart time and time again, to the point where she was used to it. But she never expected to experience the pain that was her heartbreak. Never a pain like this.

She sniffed as a final tear fell. Her eyes were dry from all the crying. She rubbed her bright, silver eyes and jumped at the doorknob turning.

Tai stood up on guard, hoping it wasn’t anyone coming to finish the job. But instead, Qrow stumbled through the front door; soaked, cut, bruised, and bleeding. He collapsed to the floor.

“Qrow!” Summer clumsily fell off the couch and crawled over to him. 

He leaned on his arms and knees, panting heavily. “...Qrow…?” Summer whispered, the hollowness in her chest already expanding from the hopelessness.

Summer didn’t say anything more. Qrow looked up at her, despair in his red eyes. “I-” He managed to choke.

Summer looked at him, his hair stuck flat to his forehead, the whites of his eyes filled with red from the strain, and the swell of his eyelids from the tears; he didn’t find her.

“No…” Summer whimpered. “No, n-,” She shook her head, it had to be a sick joke. “No!”

She flung herself around Qrow, soaking herself in rainwater and dirt. She clung to him, and he held on. They wailed on the floor, both of them grieving for their lost baby. 

Summer screamed, hoping Ruby could hear her and return, but she never came. How could this happen? Why did this have to happen to her? She promised she’d keep her darling child safe. She… she promised her. How could she lie like that? Summer knew the risks of having a silver eyed child, but she swore to herself, to Qrow, and to her baby that she wouldn’t let anything happen to her. 

She failed.  
…

Ruby yawned and stretched her arms over her head. She had just finished an exhausting test in Grimm Studies and was being forced to skip dinner for the second day in a row. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, she headed toward the front of the CCT tower with a grin on her face. She was supposed to meet Qrow Branwen there for her first training session. 

After the bomb that was dropped on top of her yesterday evening about the silver eyes, Ruby was giddy with excitement. Her teammates had been concerned about her positive attitude ever since she bounced up to their dorm last night. Ruby had simply told them that she got the highest score on an assessment and was congratulated by Ozpin, but she was sure that they didn’t buy it.

Ruby was most excited about uncovering the power, and finally pleasing Salem. She was certain that the endless tests and assessments of her abilities were all for revealing the power, and Salem would finally be pleased with her if she came back as a fully realized Silver Eyed Warrior.

She reached the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the CCT, and found Qrow sitting on the third stair up. He was hunched over, leather-bound flask in one hand and his scroll in another. He wore the same grey dress shirt and black pants as he did yesterday, along with the same red cape. He had yet to notice Ruby approaching and seemed to be invested in whatever was on his scroll.

Ruby waited a few moments for him to notice her, but when he never did, she decided to just clear her throat to announce her presence.

He glanced over, half annoyed, before he immediately realized who she was and shot up. “Ruby! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize what time it was.”

Ruby was startled by his sudden response, “Oh uh… it’s fine. I was late getting out of class anyway. That stupid test was a lot longer than he said it would be.”

Qrow brought his hand up to his head and ruffled his feathery hair. “Oh, okay. Well, how do you think you did..?”

“Wha- On the test? Fine, I think…” Ruby was confused, he seemed just as anxious as she was. What was his problem? 

They stood awkwardly for a moment, neither of them really sure what to do. Qrow cleared his throat and instructed, “We’re going to go down to the Emerald forest and find some Grimm for you to train against, let’s uh.. Let’s go.”

Ruby nodded and followed Qrow down the street. Ruby was puzzled by Qrow, she figured he would at least know what he was doing. But it felt like he was just as clueless as she was. 

She wondered about his background as they walked. The flask paired with the hunched posture she had seen made it clear he wasn’t a professor or teacher. His clothes didn’t help his appearance as a huntsman, he really just seemed like a tired, old man.

As they walked along the street, Ruby planned out her next move. She wasn’t sure why, but this new information and new abilities had brought her the confidence that she had lacked when she first arrived at Beacon. She was fully aware of her task from Salem, and now she had the perfect excuse to do so. She wondered, however, if she should get close to Qrow too.

Ozpin had said that Qrow was his most trusted ally, if she got on Qrow’s good side, then it would be easier to get on Ozpin’s good side. Despite the simplicity of her words, she thought carefully about what she said next, “So, Mr. Branwen, what do you do?”

“Hm?” he looked over his shoulder at her with a raised brow.

“Uh, are you a huntsman? Oz- Professor Ozpin said you were on a team with uh… uhm, wait, what was her name?”

“Summer Rose.”

“Right. So you were here at Beacon then?”

Qrow smiled at her questions, which relieved Ruby. She wasn’t sure if she was starting to ramble too much or not say enough. Qrow began, “I’m a huntsman. Graduated with Summer and the rest of our team. I was a professor at Signal Academy for a while, but that never really felt right. Ended up quitting and just taking missions from old Oz.”

Ruby nodded, faking interest. She tried to figure out what to say next, and referred back to her time with her team. “Nice. So, uh… who else was on your team?”

“Just myself, my twin sister, Summer, and Taiyang.”

“Who’s Taiyang?” Ruby asked.

“Oh, just an old friend. Well, Summer’s old friend, actually. They grew up in the same area and came to Beacon together. Heh, everyone thought they were dating actually, but they just laughed anytime someone asked.”

Ruby smirked at how easy it was to get him talking about his past, it was like he hadn’t had anyone to talk to in years. If she could get him to open up about Ozpin, this would be a breeze. “So you all got along well?”

“Not in the beginning. Gods, those two were brats. Tricked me into wearing- uh, nevermind,” Qrow stopped himself.

“Well, that’s unfortunate. But then Oz said he favored your team, why was that?” Ruby made sure to word her question casually.

Qrow smirked and held his head high. “For our amazing skills and Summer’s great leadership.” He looked down to Ruby, who had an eyebrow raised. “Yeah, no… It was because of Summer’s silver eyes, most likely.”

“What did he do? Like, how did he treat you differently?”

“Well, he let us take higher level missions, got us out of trouble when there definitely should’ve been consequences; we actually destroyed the courtyard after an argument our first year,” he chuckled.

“Did he trust you with any sort of information others didn’t know?” Ruby realized how suspicious that question sounded, and quickly tried to correct herself, “I mean- that’s not what I meant! Did he… uh, tell you… like… uhm… err…”

Qrow snickered at her struggle, weirdly unbothered by her poorly worded question. “Well what about you?” he asked, clearly trying to change the topic.

“What about me?”

Qrow shrugged, “What was your life like before you came here?”

Ruby looked away, she didn’t know what to say. It’d been weeks but she still couldn’t come up with a good backstory for herself, she cursed Watts for not writing one for her on her papers. But she couldn’t think of a way out of the conversation, so she tried her best, “I was… raised in a small town outside the city. It was frequently attacked by Grimm, so I had to learn to fight to help the… town.”

Qrow looked at her blankly. Uncomfortable and uncertain if he bought the lie, Ruby looked away. Did he buy it? It was a pretty basic story. She looked back at him, he seemed like he was fighting something on his mind. But he couldn’t say it before they heard a yell come from across the street.

“UNCLE QROW!”

“Oh n-”

Before he could finish his sentence, a blur of yellow slammed into him, knocking him back a few feet. Ruby twisted around to see a boisterous blonde girl squeezing the life out of Qrow.

"Uncle Qrow! Why didn't you tell me you were visiting Beacon? I would've said hi sooner!"

Qrow replied in a strained tone, "Heh, sorry, firecracker. Had some things to take care of first."

The girl let go of Qrow, and he gasped for air. Ruby knew she had seen her before, but couldn't remember where. Qrow continued, "How've you been? And how's the rest of the team?" 

"We're all good! Blake's as strong of a leader as ever, Weiss is still our princess, and Pyrrha is doing just as well!"

"That's good to hear, Yang." 

"Oh, Yang!" Ruby blurted, remembering now who the girl was.

Yang turned, confused. "Huh? Who are… Oh! I remember you, you were the girl that Weiss thought I was harassing!"

"Yeah," Ruby mumbled.

"Good job in initiation, by the way. We watched the highlight reel. You and the rest of RRVN took out that pack very well."

"I- thanks." 

Yang chatted with Qrow for a moment. Ruby stood and watched, completely forgetting about what Yang had called Qrow. "Wait, he's your uncle?" Ruby shouted.

Yang and Qrow both stopped to look at Ruby. Yang then burst out into laughter, and Qrow snickered along. "Yeah! Surprised?" Yang giggled out.

"I'm just shocked that someone so… bright could be related to… uh… well, Qrow."

Yang gasped, looked over to Qrow, then failed to keep her straight face and laughed some more.

Ruby was flustered. "W-what's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. I mean, you’re right. It's just that no one's ever been so blunt about it before." Yang then sighed, "So what are you doing, hanging around my uncle?"

Ruby froze. She wasn't sure what to say. Thankfully, Qrow swooped in, "Oz asked me to help train her, she's got some different skills that need some fine tuning." 

Ruby nodded along. He technically wasn't lying, and Ruby admired how easy that came to him in the moment. 

"And what's going on up here?" A voice came from behind Yang. Three girls walked up to them, Ruby assumed they were the rest of Yang's team.

"Yang? Isn't this your uncle?" The white haired one asked.

"Yeah, Weiss. You've only met him six other times." Yang teased, which caused Weiss to put a hand to her hip. 

Ruby analyzed the group. The three girls that followed Yang were nothing alike. The first one, Weiss, had snow white hair, a very pale complexion, and wore a short dress with a matching coat. The one next to her had bright red hair and emerald green eyes. She also had the most combat ready attire, in Ruby’s opinion. A short jumpsuit with frilled, red fabric around her shoulders, a skirt open in the front, two belts, armored boots and shoulder armor, and an emblem that matched her armor. The last girl could have been Weiss’s opposite. She had jet black hair tied low into a ponytail, faunus ears, darker skin, and wore a dark grey vest with black pants. 

Each of them seemed unaware of Ruby’s presence. At least, until Yang spoke up again, “Sorry for leaving y’all behind, I saw my uncle here with R.. uh.. shoot, what’s your name?”

Ruby shrunk a little, all eyes were suddenly on her, “Ruby..”

“Oh, you’re on team RRVN!” The red one exclaimed.

“Right, we watched the highlight reel. You know, your combat style is incredibly sloppy, and aggressive.” Weiss commented with her arms crossed.

“I don’t believe I asked for your input, princess,” Ruby shot back before she realized.

Weiss threw her fists to her side. “Excuse me?” she whined.

“My fighting style isn’t something I need your help with, and I’d kick your ass in a match any day. You look like you hardly know how to properly take care of your weapon. Probably have someone do it for you, huh, Princess?”

“Okay..!” Yang intervened, “I guess we caught you on a bad day…”

They all stood in silence for a moment. Ruby’s eyes shifted over the small crowd, Weiss glared at her, and the others tried to avoid eye contact with Ruby. Yang gave her a sympathetic smile, but also looked like she was bracing for something.

“Weeeell… We’ll be off. Nice to see Uncle Qrow, stop by the dorm later so I can kick your butt in Total Annihilation!” Yang called back as she ushered her group to the mess hall.

Qrow smiled and waved as she left. Ruby thought about their interaction and unwillingly tried to relate it to herself. She didn’t have an uncle, or parents really. Nothing about their interaction was familiar; was that what it was like to have a normal family?

“What was that about?”

Qrow snapped her out of her thoughts. Confused for a moment, she stuttered, “Wh-what?”

“Your whole, lashing out at the Schnee- Weiss, I mean. What was that about?”

Ruby frowned, was he trying to lecture her on behavior? “What? Was I wrong? She’s dressed like a princess, and I very much didn’t ask for her input.” She looked away. “It doesn’t matter, she’s a big girl, she can handle the truth. Come on, I want to be done before dinner.”

She walked on, leaving Qrow to follow her. She wasn’t wrong, why would the truth bother a huntress in training? If it did, she had no capability of becoming a true huntress. If Ruby knew one thing, it was that the strong shouldn’t let words hurt them, that was their opponent’s job.


End file.
